In a typical undercarriage, a drive wheel assembly drives an endless belt or track which encircles and is guided by various combinations of idlers and rollers. My prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,064, Track-Type Vehicle Undercarriage; U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,710, Undercarriage for Track-Type; U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,377, Track-Type Vehicle Undercarriage; U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,509 Endless Track Chain with Rotatable Sleeve; U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,930, Sprocket Assembly; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,041, Idler Wheel Assembly for Track-Type Vehicle are directed to one or more aspects of such an undercarriage.
The mounting of the various idlers and rollers in an undercarriage includes a stationary shaft clamped to the frame of the undercarriage. The various idlers and rollers rotate about the stationary shaft. In one specific mounting arrangement, a mounting cap clamps the stationary shaft to the undercarriage frame via a pair of fasteners. In this specific arrangement, the mounting cap does not abut the frame, and all of the clamp load is transferred across the stationary shaft. As a result, moment loading reacted by the shaft tends to result in movement of the mounting cap and flexure of the fasteners. What is needed is a mounting cap clamping arrangement which minimizes such movement. Preferably, such a mounting cap arrangement would be useful in combination with the above-described issued patents, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.